Paint On...Paint Off

Remember this "birdcage" box that I bought at Goodwill for $5.99 a few weeks ago:

well I gave it a new life with the help of a few coats of white spray paint:

(oopsie poopsie!....forgot to white balance my camera............please forgive me!)

I used Krylon's Dual Pain and Primer in White (flat):

I'm not sure what I think of this spray paint just yet.......maybe I should have used gloss instead of flat!?!?! It took about three coats and even after the color pay off looked a bit grayish and not the stark white I was looking for!!!

I also used this clear coat after the white paint dried for a day!!

I then distressed it a bit to make it look a little rustic and less perfect kinda like my inspiration pictures I found from Pottery Barn such as these:

and here is what I was left with:

I found that the 50 grit sand paper worked better than the 3M medium sandpaper sponge (the black sponge) to give it that worn look!!!  Oh and that tan sponge is a between coat sanding sponge to buff out the paint between the coats of spray paint!!

Here are the Before and Afters:

So that is all I did.......put some paint on.......then took some paint off!!!  What do you think?!?!

Not too shabby for my first DIY redo project using spraypoint!! I'm starting small people......to help me work up the courage to start bigger projects that I hope to tackle someday!!

I'm still a little unsure though.......I think I may paint over it because I'm still a little unhappy with the color payoff and then just distress it once again!! I'm thinking regular paint vs spray paint will do the trick!!

Maybe finding some pretty little things to put inside........perhaps some bright flowers or some fun candles..............will make the color pop more!!  I shall find out......post to follow once I figure it out.....HA!!

So tell me do any of you have any advice on spray painting and/or distressing for a newbie like me?  Have you tackled some projects just like this or even ones that are much bigger (I hope to refurbish a dresser someday)? So what do you think of the after pictures (I'm not 100% on board yet-it needs some touch ups I think!!)? 

Paint on......paint off,
xoxo Joanna D.